Same Skies: Shades of Gray
by D3stiny-Sm4sher
Summary: Twin Mages on a personal mission of redemption find themselves seeking help from every source they can find as they set to correct a crucial mistake.  Various Ivalice interpretations of FF characters across the board, featuring Rikku, Vaan/Penelo, others.
1. Strangers

**A/N: This is a Final Fantasy story that takes place in the world of Ivalice some time after the events of Final Fantasy XII. It's not quite an FFXII fic, though, as it is about original characters, but...hey, maybe we'll bump into folks you may recognize. ;) I was originally going to incorporate these characters into my Winds of Fate series way back, but...Their story should still work well as a standalone piece in the Same Skies series (you can find info on that series in my profile). Understanding of FF lore is not required to enjoy this story, I am writing it for both FF fans and those who know very little about FF games.**

**This story has its own little twist that makes it different than most anything I've written with the 'Diary' element, and Final Fantasy fans will also notice the tributes I pay to the series as a whole, which I hope you enjoy. This is meant to be a kind of tribute to the franchise's history and characters, as well as a story about sibling-hood, sacrifice, and living with regret.  
**

* * *

Dear Diary,

The past couple of days have been rough. Hot days, freezing nights. I've been trying to act real tough about it around Randy but I'm completely wiped. I think he can tell (he always can) but at least if I make the effort he can't bug me about it. You know how ruthless he is when it comes to picking on me.

I'm getting really damn sick of all of this sand getting everywhere, though. Some places I can tolerate - feet, face, hands - but _ears_? Ugh. It drives me crazy. My hair's not exactly doing so well, either, but like I said, not making a big fuss. I know Randy's leg's probably killing him so I have no right to complain, right? It seems to be progressing much worse for him than me for some reason. Hopefully we'll find the answers we need soon.

Catch you on the other side~  
_~(heart) Ryndy_

* * *

Raw fingers clutched at her tattered white hood as she trudged blindly through the whipping winds. Her sore hands were wrapped in loose sleeves with large red triangles trimming the edge. At least the storm had died down from a blender to a salad toss, but the difference wasn't very noticeable to a body numbed by the sandstorm. She dragged her feet through the grains as if it were mud, ankles aching, feet worn and blistered, until at last her movement was halted when she collided into a lump of cloth and flesh in front of her. The sudden stop jarred her body from its relentless march and she collapsed to her knees, trembling.

"Wh-wh-?" she sputtered, face still buried in her hood. A slender arm wedged its way into her arm pit and tugged her back up to her feet.

"Take a look."

She pushed her hood back just enough to try to see what was ahead, coughing at the particles of sand that blew their way into her throat. She clasped her hand over her face, squinting through the blowing grains.

"See it?"

Flustered and confused, she had to brush gritty strands of gold from her face, but at last she was able to make out that which they had strived to find. In the distance, a stone wall was in view. At this pace it was probably another half hour until they reached it.

She sighed of deep relief and drew her hood over her head.

"Thank the Crystals," she grumbled. "I was getting worried we were lost."

She waited a moment as her brother limped ahead a few paces before setting her own body back into motion. After a few seconds, momentum took its course and her rubbery legs were somehow pushing her forward once again.

"Lost?" her companion scoffed, tipping his long-tipped, floppy wizard's hat far enough where his amber eyes could meet her gaze. "Come now, Sister. Surely you never doubted my navigation." His words were a spear pointed with jest. The twine holding this sharp stone in place was confidence.

"Never," Ryndy played along, tightening her hood over her head. She spat into the sand, her mouth riddled with earth. Perhaps this was finally when their luck would turn around.

* * *

Dear Diary,

We finally made it to Rabanastre. Can you believe it? Weeks of travels have led us here...Hopefully this will finally be where we find the answers we've been looking for. The first thing we did was check into an inn and clean up! Randy let me wash first. What a gentleman, right? He's been acting so different lately, though. He's angry. I try to ask him why he's angry but he won't say. I can't tell if it's with me, or with himself, or what. It must be me, or else he would just tell me, don't you think? Whatever it is, it's been making him a lot more quiet than I'm used to. I don't like it.

I feel so powerless. I'm following him around but what can I do to help? The one thing I'm good at is something that is useless to him. His pain is incurable by my hands. What good is a White Mage when the sickness is beyond her power? I have to find a way to make this all right.

I hope the mage we heard about is really here and can really help us. I don't think there's a lot of time left for my brother, and I don't know what I would do...But what am I saying? That won't happen because we'll find an answer.

_~(heart) Ryndy_

* * *

"Wow," Ryndy whispered in awe at the magnificent structures before them. The massive well of stairs that brought them to a plaza were breathtaking in and of themselves. The architecture was overwhelming, and all manner of citizen of every race bustled through the streets like fish in a stream. "It's so...-" She couldn't find one word to describe it all.

"Impressive," Randy finished her sentence knowingly, tilting his worn, pointed hat up with his old wooden staff. "Isn't it? I knew you'd like it here."

"I do, I _do!_" Ryndy gasped with delight, clasping her raw hands together in jubilant relief. Her mind raced with all of the possibilities of a city such as this. She dropped her cloak's hood and brushed away sandy hair strands to soak it all in.

"We're on a mission, remember?" Randy's stern tone snapped her back to attention.

"R-right!" she remembered, saluting her brother. She held her attention for a moment before her pose crumpled over in exhaustion. "So...Where do we go now?"

"First, we'd best reserve a room at an inn for the evening and get you cleaned up."

"_Ohhhhh, _man, that sounds like a good idea," Ryndy whimpered in relief.

* * *

The leather wizarding hat sat patiently on the tidied bed, its pointed top flopped down. Randy was hunched over the foot of the bed, reviewing his notes with care. He scratched his dirty hand through his shaggy but brown hair, ignoring the sweat and grease it was drenched in.

"It looks like we're going to need to find her shop in the tunnels below the city," he mused carefully.

"Below?" Ryndy pondered, scrunching her hair with a towel to dry it. "Like...underground?"

"Mm. Yes," Randy solemnly replied. "There's an entire network of tunnels beneath the town."

"That just sounds gross," Ryndy whined. "Living like urchins in dirt?"

"It's not like that," Randy chuckled. "I assure you, it's surprisingly pleasant down there." Ryndy huffed dubiously at his statement.

"I guess we'll see," she concluded tartly.

"First, we'll want to stop by the local pub to gather information."

"Huh?" Ryndy winced, clearly disapproving of the idea. "Wh-why would we want to go some place like that?"

"The person we're looking for keeps herself well hidden - not just anyone is able to meet her. A pub will be a great place to seek information."

"Oh," Ryndy muttered. "Guess that makes sense..." she grumbled to herself, tapping at her chin wistfully.

"Then it's settled," Randy concluded, closing his weathered notebook and placing it beside his cap. "We'll head out after breakfast tomorrow."

* * *

Dear Diary,

Have I mentioned that I hate pubs? Really can't stand them. They're gross and infested with bugs and crazy drunk people who are also gross and infested. At least, that's what I thought. But this pub in Rabanastre? The Sand Sea? It was actually OK! And I met a really sweet and funny girl there, too. I think we really hit it off. Uh, well...not right away. She's kind of crazy, I think. But she's growing on me. I hope I see her again tomorrow - she promised we would, after all. She might be able to help us out, and we could use all of the help we can get!

Anyways, I guess I shouldn't be too worried about keeping friends right now, given our situation. It's all kind of pointless if we can't solve this problem, huh? Randy was right about going to the pub, at least. He was able to get some info on what we need to do to meet this mystery woman under the city.

I feel hopeful for the first time in weeks. Maybe we really _can _do this.

Fingers crossed,  
_~(heart) Ryndy_

* * *

Ryndy stood dumbfounded beside her brother, her hood drawn over her head as if to protect her from the horrible, wretched people she was expecting to descend upon them. Randy drew his bandana down to reveal his face as they stood in the pub's entrance. Ryndy's eyes remained glued to the thin scar across his right cheek for a moment, her mind being tugged back in time. She viciously pushed the dark hands of her past away and turned to the crowd of people littering the tables and counter before them.

"There's no need to be nervous," Randy assured her plainly, adjusting his cap. "Perhaps you should have a drink and relax."

"Wh-Wha?" she sputtered, appalled. "No way, I don't drink! You know that!"

"Very well," Randy sighed with a shrug. "It'd do you some good, Sister. You seem very stressed."

"_Excuse_ me?" she trilled in a whisper as to not draw attention to themselves. "I believe being stressed is the proper reaction to this situation."

"It truly isn't helping either of us, Ryndy," he disagreed with a dulled sigh. "_I _am going to speak with the bartender, order myself a beverage, and mingle with the townsfolk for information. Do what you please - no one made you come here." He rolled his eyes at her and made his way through the bustling activity of the bar to the main counter, sitting himself down beside a crotchety, reptile-like Bangaa.

Ryndy gave him a cross scowl as he sat there, all smug and ignoring her. She huffed indignantly and decided that if he was going to treat her that way, then she'd go ahead and occupy herself. How she would do that in a place like this, she had no idea, but she was deadset on figuring something out.

The first thing that caught her surveying eye, by the entrance, was a large board with all manner of parchment nailed to its surface. Each piece of paper had a sketch of a beast drawn upon it, with various rewards and information. A bounty board, she concluded. Fortunately, they had no need for money presently, but if they did, such a thing could prove useful.

"So!" Shocked out of her wits, Ryndy spun around to face the peppy, if somewhat gratingly cheerful voice that greeted her. "What's a little mage like you thinkin' she can do to vicious lil' beasties like these, huh?" The girl was probably about her age - early twenties - with a lean face and eyes that sparked with child-like energy. She was garbed in a yellow shirt and bright orange overalls with thick working boots. Her bright yellow hair was a mess of tangles, bangs, loops, braids, beads, and feathers. Streaks of black and brown marked her lockes, and her face had the slight shine of oil coating it. A solid red band of cloth was wrapped around her forehead. She stared at Ryndy expectantly, sipping from a square-shaped glass half full of bright green liquid.

"Uh, w-well, I'm, um...I'm from out of town," Ryndy explained, baffled by this girl's forward approach.

"He-ey!" the girl cheered, tossing an arm up. "Me, too! Just moved here last month!"

"Oh," murmured Ryndy as the girl came to her side and slapped a grease-ridden hand on her shoulder across her back. She winced at the thought of that filth soiling her White Mage robes, but conceded to herself that they were already grody from their long journey and needed to be cleaned anyway.

"Welcome to Rabanastre, Amiga!" the stranger exuberantly greeted, easing her along by the back to the nearest empty table. "This pub here's the Sand Sea! What brings ya here?"

"I-I'm, erm..." She fumbled, perplexed by her situation as she was seated. "My brother and I are-"

"Ohhh, brother, eh?" the bizarre girl cooed. "Where is he? Is he cute?"

Relishing a moment where this girl's attention wasn't directed at her, Ryndy directed a shaken finger to where Randy was intently having a discussion with his neighbor.

"H-he's the mage over there," she pointed out, following through with the thought, _And you'd better not be getting any ideas, crazy-person._

"Oh-_ho!_" the girl bellowed. "He's a Black Mage! Im-_pressive..._" That excited gaze snapped back to Ryndy's face with realization. "Wait - you're a _White _Mage! Well, isn't that just so _adorable? _Like salt and pepper! You match!"

"Yea, we sure do," Ryndy nervously agreed, wondering why on Gaia she had been so determined to find something to do. It had certainly found _her_, at any rate.

"So why are you here?" the greasy blonde asked with seriousness, taking a swig from her drink, her elbow planted on the wooden table.

"We're...looking for someone," Ryndy replied with hesitation. The less this nutcase knew, the better.

"Well," the nutcase mused, cocking a brow. "I hope you _find '_em." She raised her glass with such vigor that she nearly spilled some. Ryndy's eyes followed it with a fear of precisely that occurring. Another dainty slurp of beverage and the girl broke their moment of silence by asking, "So, what's yer name, Cutie?"

"My name is Ryndy," she sighed out, trying to maintain her manners as best she could.

"The name's Rikku," the freakishly enthusiastic young woman declared, deepening her voice. "My_ wark_ is worse than my bite!"

"I'm sure it is," Ryndy squeaked to herself sheepishly.

"Why are you so nervous, Ryn?" Rikku queried. "You look like you haven't had a drink yet!" she immediately concluded, shaking her head and loosely flapping her wrist in Ryndy's direction. "We oughtta fix that right up!" she insisted.

"No," Ryndy objected politely, pushing her palm out. "I don't drink."

Rikku gasped, her eyes bulged in disbelief.

"Tragedy!" she moaned with embellished remorse.

"I just don't see the point," Ryndy explained curtly.

"To each her own," Rikku accepted with another raise of the glass before chugging down the rest in a few gulps. "You look _soooo _tweaked out, though, Ryn," she mourned with sympathy. "What's eatin' at ya?"

Ryndy was quickly warming up to being called 'Ryn.' She always liked that name back before...everything had happened.

"Huh?" Rikku pressed, snapping the mage back to their discussion.

"Oh, a lot of stuff," Ryndy sighed, tucking her hood further around her face.

"Ah," Rikku whimpered meekly, her face drenched in sympathy. "Well...I sure hope you can figure that all out."

"Yea," Ryndy sighed, her expression dulled.

"Heyyyy, don't give up," Rikku encouraged, scooting her stool over and rubbing her grubby hand across the white robes. And there was another streaking stain, which was just great, of course.

_Don't give up. There must be a way.  
_

Why was this freakish girl so concerned with Ryndy's well-being? She was worming her way into Ryndy's trust at an alarming rate. And then she said it, and Ryndy knew.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

It didn't matter how bizarre she was, how odd it was that she suddenly tossed herself at Ryndy - she just had a gut feeling that this was just the Crystals' way of helping them out. She wasn't going to turn down any help from anyone - at this point, what could she lose by doing so?

"Actually," Ryndy slowly replied, considering her words carefully. "There _is _something you could do, um...Rikku, was it?"

The bright-eyed girl nodded emphatically.

"Meet me here tomorrow, at this time." Rikku's face perked up in determination at this request. She saluted, eyes burning with courage.

"Youuuuu got it, stranger!" Rikku acknowledged with a devious wink. Ryndy prayed that the Crystals knew what they were doing and that she wouldn't end up regretting placing her trust in this 'unique' woman.

"Ryndy," called the ever-solemn tone of her brother, his raspy tone cutting through the surprisingly busy morning crowd.

"Ooo, got a dark voice, too," Rikku whispered fiercely in Ryndy's ear, glowing eyes intent on her brother. "That hat looks so good on him, too."

Quite uncomfortable with all of this talk about how attractive her twin brother was, Ryndy rose from her seat and gave Rikku a shy smile and a nod.

"Thanks for your company. I...guess I'll see you here tomorrow?"

"Cross my heart!" Rikku assured, dashing her finger across her chest with a wide grin.

As the two wizards left the Sand Sea, Randy had a smug smirk about him. Ryndy suspiciously glared at him with threatening emerald eyes. He shrugged in reply, his snark coming through his own amber irises.

"Found a friend, did you?" Randy teased.

"More like I fell _into _one," Ryndy chuckled.

"Are you sure it's such a good idea to be making friends right now?" the Black Mage asked her with dire doubt.

"I think it may be our only choice," the White Mage decided with aplomb, pulling her hood from her head and nodding to herself.

"I remember the last time you felt that way about something," Randy bitterly pointed out, his nostrils flared and his eyes cold.


	2. Hope

Dear Diary,

While we're obviously here for a reason, I'm glad that at least the place we needed to find was such a beautiful city as this. Rabanastre doesn't feel like any town, it feels like it's _alive. _There are so many different kinds of people, and they're all doing every thing imagineable. It's been so great to meet some of the folks here. Everyone seems so nice and helpful. I can't believe it. It's been such a blessing, and that's exactly what we need right now.

_~(heart) Ryndy_

* * *

"Is this the place?"

"I don't _know, _Ryndy. We have to find out."

"I really hope it is, I'm getting sick of all of this rummaging around in the sewers," Ryndy groaned, impatiently thumping her foot into the damp cobblestone street.

"It's not a sewer, my dear," Randy sighed. "It's the Lowtown."

The two entered the open-doored Magick Shoppe, "Lost Dreams," and Ryndy was immediately drawn to the counters littered with glowing stones of various varieties.

"Oh, wow, there's some rare Magicite they've got here," she whispered to herself as Randy immediately approached the clerk at the rear of the store.

"Good morning," he greeted with utmost formality to the young Moogle boy. Randy smiled in respect as he noted the child's steepled, slightly torn leather hat, practically a miniaturized version of his own, the strip of fabric wrapped around its base a solid black in comparison to Randy's band of red.

"G-good morning, Sir," the boy squeaked. The two exchanged observational glances, their eyes sharing the same otherworldly shade of amber. "H-how can I help you today?"

"I've come to meet with your manager, actually," Randy explained calmly. "Is she in?"

"Oh. Oh," the boy muttered fretfully. "I-I'm sorry, Sir, she's not here at the moment. Is it important? Sh-should I...take a message?" Ryndy had found herself staring at him and was slightly put off but the way he stammared and fidgeted at every moment - her heart was pitying the child. She returned to Magick-gazing in an effort to ease his discomfort, and her own in turn.

"Yes, please do," Randy insisted politely as he dug into his cloak. "It's of the utmost importance that we speak with her as soon as possible." He retrieved a roll of parchment from a pocket inside his weathered blue cloak and gently placed it on the glass counter before the nervous Moogle. "Please give her this when she returns. Do you have any idea when she will be around?"

"Uh, um, w-well," he fumbled, shifting his cap up slightly, nose twitching. "I believe she'll be in after lunchtime."

"Splendid," Randy replied with nonchalance. "We'll stop by later this afternoon." He paused, eyeballing the boy as he palmed at the rolled up sheet he'd been handed. "Are you well, Child?"

"Oh, oh, y-yes. I'm fine," he dismissed, carrying an unnatural gruffness as he set the scroll on the counter, continuing to tweak its position as he spoke. "It's just, um...I couldn't help but notice...You're like me."

"That I am," Randy acknowledged with a warm nod. "I see you carry a black band - did you come here from Arcadia?"

He shook his head and scratched at his bulbous red nose.

"Um, no, I just...W-well, I mean, I was probably _born _there, but I...I've always lived _here._"

"Ah, I see," Randy murmured pensively. He muttered something in a mysterious tongue that Ryndy could not comprehend - one she had heard him utter many times before. The boy laughed and eagerly stuttered out something in reply in the same ancient language.

"It seems you're somewhat versed in our teachings," the older Black Mage encouraged. "How much do you know, Boy?"

"Oh, oh, ummm...I'm pretty good with Fire Magick. I've gotten good at Fira-casting."

"Not bad at all for one so young," Randy applauded, straightening the young Moogle's cap.

Ryndy could feel her soul pulling away from the sight before her. She couldn't bear to look at it. The glow in Randy's eyes, the familiar campfire warmth of his voice...Just like she remembered it. She had been convinced she'd never see it again and yet here it had appeared. She involved herself in reading up on the Hastega Magicite that happened to be beside her, pushing their discussion from her consciousness.

"Ryndy."

"Huh?" She pulled herself from the pool of regret she'd been dunking her face into, clearing the glaze from her eyes.

"We're off. The lad says we should return in a couple of hours."

"So what should we do in the meantime?"

"It's the lunch hour, my dear, and I know just the place to go."

* * *

Randy had led them to an open restaurant with paper lanterns hanging from the The bustling streets were somewhat distracting. Ryndy wasn't at all used to this kind of environment. She relished it, sucking everything in like a sponge: the sounds mixing together in a symphony of life and culture, the sights of metal ships drifting overhead, and the smells of delicious soups being cooked before their eyes...She found herself admiring the handiwork of the girl across the counter cooking their meal, a young adult Hume with short black hair and a goofy but determined grin. Her straight hair had frizzled strands poking out in all directions, her forehead damp with sweat. Each movement she made was swift and precise, her knife dicing apart some onions. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes before dropping her freshly cut pile into the boiling pot at her side.

Her deft skills were impressive - until she tripped and dropped a plate of dumplings across the ground with a yelp. A groan poured from the mouth of the Bangaa chef in the back of the open kitchen.

"_Again, _Yuffie?" he dryly remarked with his rasping voice.

She pounced back to her feet and fleetly delivered a fresh plate to the giggling woman around the bend of the building's exterior counter.

"Thanks," the woman choked out between laughs.

The accident prone chef smiled wide, her face flushed with embarrassment, and she grabbed a broom, hurriedly sweeping her mess up and tossing it into a trash can before taking a deep breath.

"Third time today, Yuffie," the head chef grunted.

"Sorry, Boss," the girl sighed out in exasperation, her back to him. Ryndy observed the frustration in her furrowed brows as she brushed moisture from her forehead. For just a brief moment it looked like she would shed a tear, but as soon as Ryndy had noticed, the girl had sprouted back to a perky demeanor and was smiling their way in that dorky way she had been when they had arrived.

"Welcome to 10,000 Needles!" she chirped with zest. She was quickly reminding Ryndy of that Rikku weirdo from the day before. Klutzy, happy-go-lucky girls just seemed to be the norm lately. "What can I getcha?"

"We'll have two King Bomb Soups and a couple of Gysahl Green Teas," Randy ordered without skipping a beat.

"Comin' right up," the oddball chef declared, clacking her knives together. "Two Gysahls, Boss," she cried to the grouchy lizard man in the back of the kitchen. He grunted in reply, dunking some steaming water from an iron kettle into a pair of pewter teacups. With incredible proficiency, Yuffie immediately went to work dicing up a small collection of vegetables, sliced up some chunks of meat, and dumped them into her soup pot. The Bangaa placed the two mugs of fresh tea before them on the counter with a nod, giving them no eye contact before going back to his business frying foods.

"Wait," Ryndy muttered quietly to Randy, poking her index finger at his shoulder. "King Bomb Soup? Is this stuff gonna be spicy?"

"Ohhh, yes, that's right," he groaned gently, shaking his head in slight disarray. "You're sensitive to that, aren't you?" he acknowledged. "Excuse me," he called out, raising a hand. "Miss?"

"Name's Yuffie, Mister," the girl chimed without pause, stirring the soup with care.

"Have you...already added the stronger spices to that?" Randy wondered before sipping his tea.

"Uhhhh-" Her eyes rolled up in consideration before popping back down to meet his intent gaze. "Nope! Not yet. You wanna hold off on 'em until I make hers?" She pointed a dripping wooden spoon in Ryndy's direction absent-mindedly, gaze locked on the Black Mage.

"Er, yes," Randy requested, taken aback. How had she heard their quiet mutterings through the sounds of the kitchen and the street? "If you wouldn't mind," he clarified politely.

"Not-a-prob-lem!" Yuffie insisted, stressing each syllable.

"Thank you, Ma'am."

"Just call me Yuffie," the expedient chef insisted with a wink, going right back to her stirring. As she wafted the steam and sucked in it vigorously through her nostrils, Ryndy asked her a question.

"So, um...Yuffie. Do you like it here?"

The chef cocked her a bro and shrugged, continuing to mix the soup.

"Er, well, the pay's good, and...I seem good at it," Yuffie mused.

"Except for when you keep _dropping _everything," her boss huffed, lending his two Gil to the conversation. A nervous laugh trickled out from Yuffie and she shrugged.

"I meant Rabanastre," Ryndy clarified with a grin.

"Oh," Yuffied sliced an onion as she spoke. "Yea, it's nice here. I came from a pretty strict family, so I'm livin' it up out here, ya know?" Clean, fast strokes made quick work of the onion before she lifted her cutting board and dunked the pieces into the soup.

"Strict family, huh?" Ryndy sighed, blowing at her tea. "Know how _that _goes," she grumbled with bitter remorse. "It's nice to have freedom, isn't it?"

"You betcha," Yuffie agreed as she took a dainty slurp to test the taste. Smacking her lips, she ladled some of the soup into a bowl, briskly mixed in a few dashes of various powders, and placed it before Ryndy. "King Bomb Soup without the Bomb!" she presented with a wink. Whirling back around, the girl prepared some red peppers, some smidgins of various sauces, and a helping of a deep red powder. Her concoction complete, she provided it to a rather hungry Black Mage who tipped his hat and immediately went to consuming it. Ryndy was compelled to finish her tea first, but found the soup to be surprisingly rich in flavor.

"You seem like you're a really good chef," Ryndy observed between slurps of soup. "The way you put that together was so fast and..efficient."

With flushed cheeks, Yuffie shrugged the compliment off.

"I'm still learning," she humbled herself as she went about washing the pot with a chunk of soaked sea sponge. "At a _lot _of things," she added, wiping sweat from her brow before pouring a cup of water into the pot and swirling it about.

"We're _all_ learning," Randy noted, patting his full stomach. "By the way, my name is Randy. This is my sister, Ryndy." Not appreciating being placed on the spot, Ryndy sheepishly smiled and made an awkward gesture that could be construed as a wave.

"Ah, well, nice to meet you both," Yuffie said with a nod. "Are you guys all finished up there?"

"Oh," Ryndy blinked rapidly as her mind jumped back to her food. "I-I'm not quite done yet." As she scarfed down the last of soup, Yuffie chuckled while Randy asked for their bill.

Randy left a small pile of coins, insisting that Yuffie could "Keep the change."

"Thanks." The girl eyed them with some suspicion as she collected their dishes. "You guys aren't from around here, huh?"

"No," Randy replied as he casually scooped out a scratched silver pocketwatch and observed the time. Clicking it closed he added, "We traveled quite a distance to come here. We're here on a rather important errand."

"Oh." Yuffie's brows lifted with unknowing intrigue. "Good luck, then, huh?"

"Thanks."

"If we need to stop by for a meal again," Ryndy pointed out, "we know the place to come, right, Randy?" Her brother shrugged, obliging the notion but obviously confused as to why she'd presented it.

Yuffie grinned and flashed them a thumbs up.

"Sounds good, stop by again sometime!"

"We will!"

* * *

Dear Diary,

We can do this. I know we can. We finally found someone who knows about our situation - the person we've come all this way looking for. She was very nice, but...I could see it in her eyes: she's lost someone, just like we have. It was painful for me to look into that lonely face and be reminded of what we have been through and _know _that she has been through it, too. But she gave me hope. She seemed to have an idea of what is wrong and what we can do to fix it. She has been through this and come out alive and well in the end. We can, too.

_~ Ryndy_

* * *

The Magick Shoppe "Lost Dreams" was even more welcoming the second time they entered than the first. This could've been because there was a pair of burly men sifting through the wares, muttering to each other in discussion of how best to spend their budget, but more likely because of how politely the young Moogle clerk greeted them this time.

"Ah, hello!" He waved his hand, begging them to come to the desk. "She's back in now. D-do you want me to get her?"

"Certainly, Lad," replied Randy, clasping his staff with a patient nod.

"J-just a sec." The Moogle vanished into the back, and the two mages stood before the counter with apprehension.

"So...this is her, huh?" Ryndy whispered over Randy's shoulder. "The one who can help us?"

"It seems that way," indicated her brother.

A woman approached from the back room with a solemn look about her. The first thing Ryndy noticed were her eyes - one was blue as the summer sky, one green as spring grass; yet they were both cold with the bitter chill of winter. Her brown hair spiked down in all directions aross her shoulders and a long, thick braid of a ponytail trailed down to the length of her knees. She wore a white blouse with denim shorts, edges ripped. She stared at them both with an icy gaze and a dulled expression, hands on her hips.

"You two have been looking for me?" she probed. Her voice was surprisingly pleasant given her demeanor. The two bobbed their heads and the woman cocked her head back, signaling them to follow. She placed a gentle hand on the Moogle boy's shoulder. "I'm going to take them back, Vivi. You keep up the good work."

"Thanks, Miss Yuna, Ma'am."

"Come." She led them behind the counter down a short hall and into a tidy office with a wall packed full of tomes. Nervous glances were exchanged before the two guests took their seats. The dire woman sat in her desk's chair and once again dug into their souls through their eyes with her own.

"So," she slowly began, and a glint of interest finally shown through."This letter," she waved the parchment with the lion seal that Randy had left before. "This letter tells me that Lt. Leonhart sent you to me."

"Yes, my Lady," Randy acknowledged, resting his staff against the wall behind them.

"Please, just call me Yuna," the woman insisted. She gaveanother cursory glance at the paper before setting it aside and crossing her arms. "Now, the Lieutenent here tells me that he believes I'm familiar with your condition..." She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. "Show me."

Randy fidgeted in his seat, and Ryndy recognized that it'd be easier to show this Yuna person her own infliction. She rolled her baggy sleeve up and flinched at the very sight of her right arm - a patch of skin was deathy pale, greenish even, running along her arm from her right shoulder to her elbow.

Yuna strained her eyes and leaned in with a careful scrutiny. She gently touched it with the tip of her finger, asking, "Does this hurt?" Ryndy hadn't even felt it. That portion of her arm's skin had no sensation. She shook her head and bit her lip as the expression on Yuna's face dulled even further.

"And this has been getting worse over time, correct?"

"Yes," Ryndy replied shakily.

Yuna huffed through her nose and nodded to herself, tapping her chin with her index finger. She turned to Randy.

"The exact same thing is happening on your leg?"

"Indeed," sighed out the Black Mage.

A wistful hand found its way to Yuna's head as if she were trying to contain a headache.

"I can tell you," she assured, "that this certainly _does_ look like what I experienced."

"So you know what it is?" Ryndy whispered, almost afraid to fully understand their plight.

"Unfortunately...yes."

"Sir Leonhart said he knew that you had once been afflicted with it," brought up the inquisitive Black Mage. "And that you found a cure."

Yuna's head bobbed up and down in a mechanical fashion as her eyes quivered.

"I know its effects all too well: Zombification." That certainly didn't sound very pleasant.

Ryndy squeaked in horror at the idea that found its way into her head. Zombie? As in, _undead _zombie? She was turning _into _one?

"By the Crystals," Randy murmured to himself in bewilderment. "It's exactly as we feared."

"Yes," Yuna finished the thought. "If we don't eradicate it from your bodies, then eventually..."

"Wh-what does it _do _to you?" Ryndy painfully pressed on.

"You body will lose sensation in the skin and eventually underneath. It will spread until your entire body has been taken over - it's like a cousin curse to Petrification."

"Except that's not quite as difficult, as a vial of Soft solution is fairly easy to obtain," Randy observed.

"Right," Yuna agreed. "But _this? _No conventional means of medicine will rid you of it."

"And White Magick...-" Ryndy whispered, her eyes threatening to spill tears. Yuna sighed and shrugged disparagingly.

"White Magick doesn't help, either," she clarified.

"No," Randy followed up. "It makes things _worse. _We're _quite _aware of this." His eyes shifted with a contained rage to the massive bookshelf. Yuna began to explain the details.

"Right. Since the flesh is becoming necrofied, White Magicks actually damage-"

"Yes, we _know,_" Ryndy hissed, face flushed red, her head tilted down. There was a moment of awkward silence between the three of them as Yuna observed how they both completely avoided one another's gaze, anger and regret seeping from their expressions like a toxic cloud.

"Oh," Yuna said simply, taking a moment to consider the situation. "It happened to you, too," came her hypothesis. "My dear," she placed a hand on Ryndy's hand, but the girl jerked it away, tears beginning to stream down her face. "You tried to help someone else who had this condition, didn't you?"

"She did," Randy seethed with frightening calm, his anger remaining suppressed. He was grasping his pocketwatch tenderly, stroking its surface with his gloved thumb. Ryndy was wiping at her face with her wrists, sniffles coming out in lumps. "He's no longer with us," Randy concluded with freezing resolve.

"I-I didn't...didn't _m-mean..._-" Ryndy stammared in desperation, unable to proceed with her thought.

"It's all right," Yuna soothed as best she could, running her hand across Ryndy's leg. "I understand. I lost someone the same way myself..." Yuna's face scowled in frustration at the sight of this blonde girl before her, damned to live with the blood of another on her hands. "How did this all happen?" Yuna asked at last, facing Randy. "Was it a ring?"

Randy snorted and dug into his pocket, pulling out a tiny leather pouch. He handed it to Yuna and she peered inside with care as if a dangerous creature lay within. The foul green stone was deceptively carved into a beautiful square framed on a platinum ring. She tightened the pouch back up and placed it on her desk with a sigh.

"It looks exactly the same as the one that caused mine," she noted, shaking her head. "How did you two become infected?" she wondered, tapping her chin. "Surely you didn't put the ring _on_?"

"No." Randy straightened his cap, putting his watch away. "I obtained it from a merchant during my travels. I gave it to my wife as a birthday present - I had no idea what it truly was. When she placed it upon her finger, this...Zombification...It rapidly spread across her body. We had minutes, if even that. The ring wouldn't come off. We called for my sister," he nodded his head to his left to Ryndy, "but I wasn't sure if she'd be able to help in time. I tried to destroy it." Yuna nodded knowingly at his recount.

"And in attempting to do so you caused some of its accursed magic to leak out."

"Correct," Randy conceded, that single word plagued with regret. "Ryndy showed up just as it happened. My wife was transformed completely...The rest of us were infected. My sister, myself, and...-" He paused, fighting back his sorrow. "And my son."

Yuna nodded with a melancholic knowledge that came from experience. The image passed through her mind: her former lover - her dream come true - his skin pale and dead, a dream corrupted into a nightmare, being enveloped in white light, only to disintegrate into a pile of ash.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Yuna sympathized. Randy snorted.

"You're not the one who should be sorry," he retorted.

Yuna's glance wandered to the trembling hands folded in Ryndy's lap. Her heart burned for the girl. She understood what Randy could not comprehend: the guilt of destroying a person when the intent was to rescue them. The Black Mage's attitude was distressing to her, for she feared it was only further tearing apart his sister's will. The way they both seemed to play off of each other's moods melded with a sixth sense that had Yuna wondering if the two were twins.

"I don't think this is anyone's fault," Yuna concluded firmly. "Other than the person who created these...horrible rings."

"How?" Ryndy murmured hopelessly, brushing shameful tears from her face. "How do we _fix_ this?" She pointed her right hand at her left arm in anger and disgust.

"If we destroy the ring that caused the curse," Yuna explained in an attempt to reassure them, "We should be able to reverse the effects."

"I have the feeling this ring won't be destroyed by traditional means," Randy deduced with irritable sarcasm. Yuna shrugged in admittance.

"The only way to destroy a ring like this, in my experience, is with an extremely potent Holy Water." She was met with confused, exasperated expressions. "Not the kind that can be bought in a bottle to ward off evil spirits, but the source where that kind of water comes from."

"And where, precisely, would we find a Holy Spring like that?" Randy inquired, a glimmer of hope igniting in his amber eyes.

"Well," Yuna sighed, turning her chair around to her desk and beginning to shuffle through a notebook. "That's going to be a bit tricky, but I should be able to help."

"Why are you helping us?" Ryndy timidly wondered. Yuna paused, spun her chair back to face them, and clasping Ryndy's hand delicately in her own.

"Because," she muttered with tender solemnity. "I don't want to see this curse kill _anyone _else if I have anything to say about it."


End file.
